#456...recipe for polar bear

Overall, I had a very unproductive week due to the pain in my neck and arm. I got next to nothing done. To cheer myself up, I went thrifting, and found this funny linen tea towel for .75 cents. I'm sure everyone needs to know how to make polar bear Popsicles.

Recipe:

Cut hole in Ice large enough to fit bear. Sprinkle large peas around edge of hole...

While bear is taking a pea- kick him in the hole...

Remove frozen bear - Garnish with Ice Worms.

Serves six hundres and 31

#455...ouch

I currently have a pinched radial nerve that is causing shooting/burning pain down my right arm. It has been hurting for about two weeks, and I have gotten various types of professional help for it, and it was on the mend for awhile.... but now it is back with a vengeance. I wish I could paint some pretty magic sticks like this and wave them around to make it go away.

#454...pie

For my friend Nancy's wedding, I helped her gather vintage cake stands to be used to display the many dessert pies served. She wanted a combo of metal stands and glass stands. I thrifted the first few stands, and realized that most cake stands are all about the same height, and that to create a display of stands of varying heights I'd have to get crafty with epoxy. I gathered a bunch of metal and glass plates, and a bevy of glass compotes, vases and metal candlestick holders and went to work gluing components together to create a varied height display. Here are a few of the plates and base options before.

Here are the stands as I was arranging and gluing them together.

...and here they are at the wedding

....and all dressed up with pie

my friend Robin took these wedding pics on her iphone in instagram.

Here is one of Tyler and I that she took outside of the airstream trailer camp at the ranch.

#453...at the ranch

We are in west Texas this weekend for a friend's wedding, which is being held at a ranch. My friend Robin took these pics of the rustic camp where we stayed last night in Instagram. I really need an iphone so that I can take part in putting pretty filters on my photos.

#452...compost

Tyler has always wanted to build a compost bin. He currently purchases compost for the yard, so with my new effort to eat a more plant based diet, it gave him the perfect reason to build a bin and make his own compost. We have an overgrown side yard, where we decided to locate the bin. First, he measured the space and we cleared the overgrown mess of vegetation.

Next, he started building the box on a cold Saturday in January, with Sarah's assistance.

Here is the finished bin. He built it with two compartments, because I believe you have to rotate your mixture while it's composting. The lids lift up, and the center panel between the two bins slides up so that you can shovel between the bins. The front panels also lift up in the same fashion that a garage door lifts to allow you to access the compost once it is ready.

There is a little bit of a science to composting, which I don't really know much about. For now, all I have to do is open the lid and throw in my biodegradable bag of veggie trash.

Then, I use the pitchfork to cover the bag, with the already composting mixture of yard clippings, leaves and plant remnants.

and voila'....all gone

In our kitchen we are trying out this Full Circle countertop compost collector with biodegradable bags. For the most part I like it. It does need to be taken out about every third day (at the longest), or fruit flies start circling.

#451...patchwork scottie

My little friend Violet really likes dogs. She had a play-date with my dogs recently, and let out big excited squeals when they came anywhere near her. So, for her first birthday, I thought it appropriate to make her a doggie of her own.

I made this little patchwork scottie dog from Denyse Schmidt's free pattern, found here. I used bits of recycled wool from vintage sweaters and skirts as well as various cottons to make Violet's puppy. I would rate the dog as an intermediate sewing project. The directions are very good, but all of the corners that get sewn put the pattern out of the beginner category. 

It is really awesome that Denyse offers free patterns. Sarah and I are thinking of making this market tote as her next "learning to sew" project.

#450...camellia clippings

My dwarf camellia tree has been blooming for a few weeks. It is almost through its blooming season, and I wanted to clip a few blooms to enjoy indoors for Valentine's Day. I'm a few days late, but we now have a pretty pink bouquet to enjoy for the weekend.